Luca Tarrini: Blog

Biztalk Server 2006 Release 3?

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:58:10 GMT

For the moment I don't specialize in Biztalk Server also if some months ago I developed some applications. I wish install Biztalk on my PC running Windows Server 2008 but I discovered they aren't compatible. It seems there will be an updated version of Biztalk some time in the first half of 2009 for Windows Server 2008. The version will be called Biztalk Server 2006 Release 3. This is the same one happened with Biztalk Server 2006. It was released when Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005 were RTM. Some day ago SQL Server 2008 was released and then Microsoft will follow un update to be compatible with the most recent platform releases.

Luca Tarrini

TF30059: Fatal error while initializing web service

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:15:48 GMT

I installed the SP1 on Team Foundation Server and I couldn't connect to server. Dammit!! In fact I had this error stated in the title of this post.....Why SP1 has raised this problem?

After searching on the web to find the solution, I discovered others with the same problem and the solution. The solution is on this Microsoft KB article entitled "TFS 2008/ Not able to connect to TFS 2008 after installing Visual Studio 2008 SP1". I must download TFS 2008 SP1. Read the instructions carefully before installing the SP1:

If you plan on using Windows Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 with Team Foundation Server 2008 SP1 please see the Team Foundation Installation Guide for details on how to install SP1 on the Team Foundation Server and do not install the service pack using the instruction below. Additionally, if you plan to install this service pack on a server that has a client for Team Foundation also installed on it, you must install SP1 for Visual Studio 2008 on that server before you install SP1 for Team Foundation Server. For more information, see “Installing Team Foundation Server and Service Pack 1” in the installation guide.

Luca Tarrini

Jojo in the Stars

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 22:32:34 GMT

I was looking for on YouTube some Future Shorts video I watched some months ago. For who doesn't know what Future Shorts is, it represents one of the leading and most short film labels. It allows filmmakers the opportunity to have their work seen on the largest theatrical platform worldwide. It brings you an eclectic mix of innovative, raw, fresh and inspiring films..................

One of my favorites is Jojo in the Stars. It is a brilliant and gloomy video. Watch the video...

Luca Tarrini

Where is ILASM.EXE?

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 13:26:34 GMT

Where installed ildasm.exe in VS 2008? You don't see it anywhere on my system? Then it is located in %PROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0A\Bin. It isn't located in ~~Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003\SDK\v1.1\Bin~~ as the old versions.

Luca Tarrini

Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 11:10:02 GMT

This download installs Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1. These service packs offer Visual Studio and .NET Framework users improvements in responsiveness, stability and performance. When you finish to install Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1, you should install the .NET Framework 3.5 Enhancements Training Kit that it includes presentations, hands-on labs, demos, and event materials. Here you will find over 100 MB of information with tips on using MVC, Ajax, the Entity Framework, Visual Studio 2008 SP1 and other tools.

Luca Tarrini

Marco' Wedding

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:49:48 GMT

Who is Marco? He is my brother and he has celebrated his wedding with Beatrice this 26 July. I collected some photos of the wedding inside the album of my blog and I will tidy up in the next days.

But there are some photos I consider particularly important and there are below:

A big say hello to my parent Ottavio and Maria, my big friend Ranieri, my brother Andrea and the great Emiliano. I hope to see you early!

Luca Tarrini

TitleZ

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:05:13 GMT

In general to update my skills I start to read one or more books. I discovered this useful site, TitleZ to track specific titles.

Luca Tarrini

Error in C# Cookbook

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 23:57:34 GMT

This evening I found an error in in the book "C# Cookbook". The page is 1029 and the example is 18-4. The author has forgotten to insert this namespace System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging; otherwise you can't use AsyncResult class defined in that namespace.

But it was so important from writing a post...No but I was just writing a post about Asynchronous delegate.

Luca Tarrini

Essential .NET: The Common Language Runtime

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:40:52 GMT

Today in a second-hand shop I found and then bought the book "Essential .NET, Volume I: The Common Language Runtime" by Don Box and Chris Sells. It has been one of first books I red about the .NET framework. It was in 2002 and the .NET framework had finally shipped in release form making the end of the COM era. After six years, I am still working with .NET. In any way I will add it to my personal bookcase.

Luca Tarrini

Five Best Antivirus Applications

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 09:54:44 GMT

Have you a PC and you don't know what antivirus to install? This link could help you choose the one that prefer!

Luca Tarrini

Developers Are Born Brave

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 13:12:21 GMT

No comment......Are you agree?

Luca Tarrini

I did it!

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 21:55:55 GMT

Yesterday I did the pizza for the first time and it was good too. Unbelievable. The pizza was Margherita. I was skeptical but it has been easy. The next time I will add further ingredients. Look the photo below.

Luca Tarrini

Convert your Windows Server 2008 to a Workstation!

Mon, 26 May 2008 20:44:29 GMT

This link can be useful if you wish convert your Windows Server 2008 to a Workstation. Besides it is very interesting the Web site of Brajeshwar where I found nice Windows Vista Wallpapers.

Luca Tarrini

A cool application.......PicLens

Sat, 24 May 2008 21:31:08 GMT

I advise you PicLens. It transforms your browser into a full-screen, 3D experience for viewing photos and videos across the web. It is a free download and it available for Internet Explorer and Firefox 2.0.

Luca Tarrini

Apple Wireless Keyboard on Windows Server 2008 - Part 2

Fri, 23 May 2008 00:02:39 GMT

If you read frequently asked questions for the Apple wireless keyboard, the answer to the question 3 is very interesting:

The right answer is you can use with Mac OS X 10.2.6 or later and with Windows.

Luca Tarrini

Apple Wireless Keyboard on Windows Server 2008 - Part 1

Thu, 22 May 2008 15:56:27 GMT

Finally the new wireless apple keyboard is arrived. It is so small and the design is very nice. In the figure below, you can see the difference between the old one and the new one. The apple keyboard is compatible with Windows and it works well.

If you wish install the apple keyboard on Windows, I can suggest you to watch this video.

Luca Tarrini

Delegates with Return Values

Wed, 21 May 2008 11:27:06 GMT

Usually you read this about the delegate. If a delegate has a return value and more than one method in its invocation list, the following occurs:

The value returned by the last method in the invocation list is the value returned from the delegate invocation.
The return values from all the other methods in the invocation list are ignored.

What if you need to access the returned value by each method in the invocation list? Use the InvocationList method. This method returns an array of Delegate objects, each representing a particular method that may be invoked.

Look this example to get around this limitation:

Luca Tarrini

Enterprise Library 4.0 Released

Mon, 19 May 2008 15:07:44 GMT

Enterprise Library is a collection of application blocks intended for use by developers who build complex, enterprise-level applications. Enterprise Library is used when building applications that are typically to be deployed widely and to interoperate with other applications and systems. In addition, they generally have strict security, reliability, and performance requirements.

Luca Tarrini

Skype crashes in Windows 2008 Server RTM - Part 2

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:15:35 GMT

In this post I have written the last Skype version crashes in WIN2008. Now I have tried the former version Skype 3.1.0.152 and it works great.

Luca Tarrini

Security Software Compatibility

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:06:24 GMT

For a good survey of what security software to install on Windows Server 2008, I can advise you this link.

Luca Tarrini

Skype crashes in Windows 2008 Server RTM

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:54:38 GMT

Unfortunately Skype crashes in Windows 2008 Server. I installed the last version but it crashes immediately after the installation. I noticed that many users have the same problem. Look this forum.

Luca Tarrini

Windows Media Player on Windows 2008 Server

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:49:07 GMT

I installed Windows 2008 Server on my home PC. I tried to open a music file but Windows Media Player wasn’t installed. Then to install Media Player 11 within Windows Server 2008 you simply have to go to the Server Manager and install the Desktop Experience. Included with the Desktop Experience feature is the Windows Media Player 11, desktop themes, and photo management tools from Windows Vista.

Luca Tarrini

Reusable Code by Delegates

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 22:42:48 GMT

Surely delegates can tend to cause a great deal of confusion when encountered for the firs time. I think an example is more exhaustive than thousand words. Then to get the ball rolling, a possible scenario is when you want to create a generic method for filtering array of integers, but with the ability to specify the algorithm used to filter the array.

In this example the algorithm filters just the odd integers:

Notice that to pass the delegate as the second parameter of FilterArrayOfInts, I can passes the name of the method. By simply creating another filter, he can filter differently. I could have a filter for even numbers, prime numbers, whatever criteria I want. Then delegates lend themselves to highly reusable code.

Reference: Pro LINQ Language Integrated Query in C# 2008 By Joseph C. Rattz

Luca Tarrini

My Smartphone with Windows Mobile 6.1

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:56:20 GMT

I am very excited by new Smartphone with Windows Mobile 6.1. It is SPV C600 HTC Tornado.

In general the feeling with my mobile phones has been not so good and it is so strange because for some years I worked with different emulator environment. But the first effect for my new Smartphone is very positive. Working, better playing, with a real device is surely nicer than emulator. Furthermore I will be able to run some programs developed for Windows Mobile with Visual Studio on my Smartphone.

The first step has been to install Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1 my PC. In this way I can synchronize some contents between the Smartphone and my computer such as Contacts, Calendar, Email.

In the next days I will continue to play with my new toy setting up for example my email and so on.........

Luca Tarrini

The Adventure of Many Lifetimes

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:20:26 GMT

Google and Virgin Group have found the solution for the survival of human race by the Virgle project. They will colonize Mars.......If you wish more news, let's visit the project.

Luca Tarrini

Making a Project LINQ to SQL Enabled

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 22:18:49 GMT

Joe Rattz has just recently made a new LINQ video available.

Luca Tarrini

Object Initializers & Auto-Implemented Properties

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 10:56:01 GMT

A snapshot of two new features of C# 3.0: auto-implemented properties and object initializers. Object initializers complement auto-implemented properties.

Luca Tarrini

Service Factory for VS 2008

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:53:01 GMT

Finally!!! The last release of the Web Service Software Factory has been released and it will be integrated with VS 2008. To learn more about the Service Factory, visit these links: MSDN and CodePlex.

Luca Tarrini

Where do you want to connect today?

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:22:02 GMT

In general you have a multitude of options to connect to data source. For a comprehensive list, visit this link.

Luca Tarrini

Auto-Implemented Properties

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 22:36:31 GMT

A new feature of the C# 3.0 is the auto-implemented properties. What does it mean? For the sake of encapsulation, the fields will be private and must be accessible by property accessors as show below:

By this new feature, I will reduce this burden significantly. Look how the previous Employee type changes after using auto-implemented properties:

The compiler creates anonymous private variables to contain each of the values that the individual property will be using. Then the compiler generates a private field in the class for the storage and implements the accessors for you.

Luca Tarrini

ObjectDumper

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 20:10:15 GMT

Object Dumper is an utility class provided by Microsoft as part of the LINQ code samples. It can be used to dump an object graph in memory to the console. You can find the source code at LINQ in Action. There you will find useful information about the the book that I consider the best about LINQ. At the moment!

Luca Tarrini

Explicit Interface Implementation

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:29:46 GMT

When a concrete type implements an interface implicitly, the interface methods also become part of the public contract of the concrete type itself. However, you might not always want the interface method implementations to become part of the public interface of the class that implements the interface. In this way I cannot access members through a class instance. When you need this behaviour in your own types, you can use the explicit interface implementation syntax.

You have design three custom interfaces

Now you can look the explicit interface implementation:

To access the required functionality, you make use of explicit casting:

Explicit interface implementation also allows the programmer to inherit two interfaces that share the same member names, as the example above.

Luca Tarrini

Sun Metro and .NET WCF Interoperability

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:51:12 GMT

The latest interoperability event (a "plugfest") at Microsoft's Redmond campus showed impressive results for interoperability between future releases of Sun's Metro Web Services and Windows Communication Foundation in .NET 3.5. Metro 1.1 FCS is a Web Services framework that provides tools and infrastructure to develop Web Services solutions for the end users and middleware developers. With Metro, clients and web services have a big advantage: the platform independence of the Java programming language. Harold Carr, the engineering lead for enterprise web services interoperability at Sun, highlighted the role of interoperability in general: "Web services are about wire interoperability, not about the platform they are implemented in. Therefore, developers, whether using .NET or Java, expect their services to interoperate. It is relatively straightforward for platform developers to ensure interoperability for WS-I basic profiles.

But when you add in WS-Policy, WS-Security, WS-Trust, WS-SecureConversation, WS-ReliableMessaging, etc., the bar for platform implementors gets way higher. The interoperability results give transparency into our current development stage to give people that are planning to use Metro with .NET 3.5 confidence that we will provide an interoperable platform -- rather than a platform that has only been tested against itself. Reminder: Metro 1.0 already works with .NET 3.0... There are two aspects to consider: the interop scenarios we test and the deployment of services based on these specifications. The interop scenarios are very useful, but certainly not complete -- particularly in reliable messaging. Real deployments will come up with combinations never tested (either by the interop scenarios tested at the plugfest or our more extensive in-house testing). Also, .NET 3.0 and Metro 1.0 (both released products) are based on the submission versions of the WS-* specifications (except for WS-Security, which is standard).

.NET 3.5 (which is released) is based on the standard versions. Metro 1.x, which will ship later in 2008, will be based on the standard versions also. All this is a long-winded way to say the standard specs haven't been used in many deployments based on shipping platforms from different vendors."

Read this post form the Harold Carr's Blog.

Luca Tarrini

Happy Easter

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:19:37 GMT

This Easter was with some friend. From a photo it appears I was bored and with a sleepy look.

Luca Tarrini

SqlHelper in Data Access Application Block

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 11:56:23 GMT

If you are utilizing Enterprise Library 3.1, you will find out the SqlHelper is obsolete in the Enterprise Library. In this MSDN forum David Hayden gives a good answer of why it is changed.

Luca Tarrini

The goals and motivation of LINQ

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 21:59:17 GMT

In this days I am working hardly on LINQ. An important reference is LINQ in Action. This table reviews the main design goals and the motivation behind LINQ.

When you will create your SQL statements, if something will be wrong, you will get an error at compile-time and not at runtime.

Luca Tarrini

What’s the latest RELEASE Windows SDK?

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 15:09:22 GMT

If you want download the last version of Windows SDK by .NET framework MSDN, you will be addressed here. Then you will have the Windows SDK Update for Windows Vista published 3/22/2007. It is the last? No, it isn't.

If you want the last version, you must go here. You will have the SDK for Windows Server 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 released on 2/5/2008.

Luca Tarrini

A Carefree Photo

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:06:30 GMT

I am watching my photo album and I stopped on one particularly. It is a photo of my parents while they were walking along the promenade.

Nice......A big hug from abroad.

Luca

A Common Mistake

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 10:39:45 GMT

The Common Language Runtime allows an instance of any type to be thrown for an exception. Objects such as System.Int32, System.String , System.DateTime can throw exceptions. But reading a C# book, somebody could have read all user and system exceptions ultimately derive from System.Exception base class. The last statement is not an error but it is true only for the CLS-compliant programming languages.

Then Exceptions types that are derived from System.Exception are said to be CLS-complaint. C# and many other language compilers are CLS-compliant.

Luca Tarrini

Visual Studio 2005 WPF Extensions Problem

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 11:19:45 GMT

If you are are installing the WP - WCFF extension for Visual Studio 2005 after you have installed .NET 3.0 SP1, then you could receive this message:

"Setup has detected that a prerequisite is missing. To use Visual Studio 2005 extensions for .NET Framework 3.0 (WCF & WPF), November 2006 CTP you must have the .NET Framework 3.0 runtime installed. Please install the .NET Framework 3.0 runtime and restart setup"

To resolve the problem, you can add the following value to your registry

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{15095BF3-A3D7-4DDF-B193-3A496881E003}]
"DisplayName"="Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0

Eventually you could run msiexec /i vsextwfx.msi WRC_INSTALLED_OVERRIDE=1.

Luca Tarrini

G in Google

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:12:28 GMT

Very funny! I installed Windows Vista Business on my PC and it is ok except the icons to web pages. Look at my Google home page

Luca Tarrini

Yet Another Computer Language

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 18:24:32 GMT

I found interesting the article on "D" language in Microsoft by Martin Heller.

"...Microsoft is designing yet another computer language... it's a declarative language [but] 'Declarative' is an awfully broad term, with multiple meanings. Standard ML is considered declarative, and so are its derivatives OCAML and F#. Prolog and rule-based AI systems are considered declarative. You declare the rules: the logic engine decides how to run them. SQL queries are declarative: you describe the data you want to see, and the query optimizer figures out how to get it out of the database. Haskell is considered declarative as well as functional, not to mention that it has monads... XAML is a declarative language for the domain of graphics. It was designed as an extension of XML. It's such an expressive language that Charlie Petzold, arguably one of XAML's most vocal proponents, built himself a alternative to Microsoft's XAMLPad called XAML Cruncher, so that he could 'interactively type XAML code and see the object it creates.' In Visual Studio 2008, Microsoft included a bidirectional, split-screen XAML designer, so that you can create XAML by dragging and dropping objects and by typing XAML code, with the ability to freely switch back and forth between the two methods. I freely admit to needing these tools; I can almost never write XAML that will display correctly on the first try. Watching the Connected Systems Division (CSD) at Microsoft over the years, it has been clear that they have been on a code-reduction path. Why? SOAP was invented by Don Box and others to be an XML-based lingua franca for communication among disparate computer applications and systems. The functional deficiencies of SOAP were addressed by the WS-* series of standards, to give it security, authentication, reliability, and so on. All of those standards made it harder to write conformant client and server code, raising the complexity by orders of magnitude..." From Microsoft's "XAML Overview" document:

"XAML simplifies creating a UI for the .NET Framework programming model.

You can create visible UI elements in the declarative XAML markup, and then separate the UI definition from the run-time logic by using code-behind files, joined to the markup through partial class definitions.

The ability to mix code with markup in XAML is important because XML by itself is declarative, and does not really suggest a model for flow control. An XML based declarative language is very intuitive for creating interfaces ranging from prototype to production, especially for people with a background in web design and technologies. Unlike most other markup languages, XAML directly represents the instantiation of managed objects. This general design principle enables simplified code and debugging access for objects that are created in XAML."

Luca Tarrini

Cognitive Collaborative Appliances: From Theory to Praxis

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:54:59 GMT

I received this email with regard to this Workshop on systems Cognitive Collaborative Appliances. I find very interesting the described scenario in which appliances include "cognitive TVs", which helps people locate the best programs that fit their mood and preferences.........

Luca Tarrini

Guidance Explorer

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:18:09 GMT

Today I finished to install Guidance Explorer. It is an application that allows to easily organize best practices and application development policies into an easily navigable application. The library includes topics for .NET, ASP.NET, and ADO.NET applications. I can use Guidance Explorer as an RSS feed. You can read the post on Alik Levin's blog.

Luca Tarrini

Percorsi formativi per sviluppatori

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 14:17:55 GMT

This is a link in Italian where you will find some useful resources on Microsoft technologies.........

Luca Tarrini

A new WPF application: Cayra.NET

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 13:07:27 GMT

Luca Tarrini

Microsoft Declares Its Modelling Love With a New Language, 'D'

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:42:52 GMT

A handful of Microsoft's top developers are working to create a new programming language, code-named 'D,' which will be at the heart of the Microsoft's push toward more intuitive software modelling. D is a key component of Microsoft's Oslo software-oriented architecture (SOA) technology and strategy. Microsoft outlined in vague terms its plans and goals for Oslo in late fall 2007, hinting that the company had a new modelling language in the works, but offering no details on what it was or when the final version would be delivered. D will be a declarative language aimed at non-developers, and will be based on eXtensible Application Markup Language (XAML), sources, who asked not to be named, said. Sources close to Microsoft confirmed the existence of D, which they described as a forthcoming 'textual modelling language.'

In addition to D, sources said, Microsoft also is readying a complementary editing tool, code-named Intellipad,' that will allow developers to create content for the Oslo repository under development by Microsoft. Intellipad is the Emacs.Net text editor for which Microsoft has seeking developers over the past couple of months... At last week's Lang.Net 2008 conference -- a meeting of programming gurus from Microsoft and other vendors held on the Redmond campus -- Microsoft's Chief Modelling Officer Don Box provided some more clues about where Microsoft is going on the tool and platform front with Oslo. Box said Microsoft wasn't interested in creating some grandiose 1980s' style computer-aided-software-engineering (CASE) tool; it was thinking more along the lines of providing a class designer. The goal, according to Box: "putting more and more of your application into data and putting less in code."

If you wish know on SOA and Business Process, you can visit this link.

Luca Tarrini

Enable User Instances in SQL Server

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 19:51:47 GMT

This is the error received when I tired to attach a SQL database to ASP.NET application: "Generating user instances in SQL server is disabled use sp_configure user instances enabled to generate user instance."

The solution is:

Open the SQL Server Management Studio Express.
In the query editor type this text: exec sp_configure 'user instances enabled', 1.
Then type: Reconfigure.
Then restart the SQL Server database.

Now it works correctly.

Luca Tarrini

IIS Requirements with SQL Server

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:10:52 GMT

This is the list of IIS feature requirement item that SQL Server depends:

Component	Folder
Static Content	Common HTTP Features
Default Document	Common HTTP Features
HTTP Redirection	Common HTTP Features
Directory Browsing	Common HTTP Features
ISAPI Extension	Application Development
ISAPI Filters	Application Development
ASP.Net	Application Development
Windows Authentication	Security
IIS Metabase	Management Tools
IIS 6 WMI	Management Tools

Luca Tarrini

Installing IIS 7 on Vista

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:04:52 GMT

An excellent introduction to installing IIS 7.0 onto Windows Vista is on the MSDN Channel9.

Luca Tarrini